Clothesline hoist



April 1952 T. R. FOSTER 2,591,416

CLOTHESLINE HOIST Filed Aug. 9, 1949 Patented Apr. 1, 1 952 OFFICECLOTHESLINE HOIST Thomas R. Foster, North Bay, Ontario, CanadaApplication August 9, 1949, Serial No. 109,367

,, ,In Canada November 16, 1948 4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a clothes line hoist to permit one end of aclothes line to be conveniently raised and lowered to facilitate thehanging and removal of the clothes or other articles and the principalobject of the invention is to provide an improved and simplified andinexpensive hoist arrangement employing a novel, sturdy and extremelyefficient elevating carriage which will be easy to manipulate and can bereadily locked in any desired position of elevation.

A further important object is to provide a hoist which will support aplurality of clothes line reaches to enable a plurality of lines to beconveniently raised and lowered simultaneously.

A still further object is to provide a hoist which can be quickly andeasily installed.

The principal feature of the invention consists in supporting for travelon a vertical track inclined outwardly from top to bottom a novelcarriage assembly in the form of an elongated ring casting to surroundthe track and having a pulley journalled therein to engage the track andformed with a laterally flared head adapted to support a plurality ofclothes lines.

A further important feature consists in forming a track as a pipe lengthhaving angularly turned end portions formed with threaded ends andproviding supporting brackets threadably engaging the ends ofthe pipe topermit the ready mounting thereof on a supporting surface, the threadedarrangement between the pipe ends and brackets providing a flexibilityin the inclination of the track to accommodate different linearrangements.

A still further feature consists in providing a convenient means forlocking the carriage in hoisted position. I

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical elevational view of my improved clothes linehoist and illustrating the manner in which the clothes line can beelevated to hoist the clothes.

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of my novel elevating carriage.

Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of the carriage of Figure2.

Figure 4 is a mid-vertical section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a plan view of my hoist illustrating the manner in which thecarriage supports a plurality of clothes lines in horizontally spacedrelation.

Clothes line hoists have previously been employed to facilitate thehanging of clothes wherebythe line may be lowered to permit the clothesto be readily hung and then raised to support the clothes in an elevatedposition clear of the ground and exposed fully to the circulating aircurrents.

In the past however such hoists have been quite complicated and havebeen both difficult to operate and expensiveto produce. Further,previous hoists have enabled the suspension of only a single line sothat where a plurality of clothes line reaches are required to support alarge wash" the articles could not be hung out altogether.

The present invention completely eliminates the above difiiculties'byproviding, not only an extremely simplified and more readily operatedinexpensive hoistbut in addition a hoist which will support a pluralityof clothes line reaches in a manner to permit the reaches to be handledand operated without interference from the adjacent reaches.

With reference to the drawings, it will be seen that my hoist comprisesa track I oriented in the vertical plane and inclined outwardly from thetop towards the bottom from its supporting surface 2, and a carriageassembly generally designated at 3 which operates on the track I.

The track is formed of a length of tubing or pipe, although a'rod may beused if desired, and this tubing has laterally turned end portions 4 and5 with the upper portion 4 being shorter than the lower portion 5 toprovide the desired cant to the track.

The ends of these portions 4 and 5 are threaded at 6, and threadablyengaging the threaded ends 6 are brackets 1 which are adapted to besecured to the supporting surface 2. In mounting the track the bracketsare first threaded on to the ends 6 and are then secured to the surface2. The brackets l are preferably relatively thick whereby the degree ofthe insertion of the track ends 6 may be regulated to provide a limited,

control over the cant of the track.

The carriage assembly 3, which is preferably formed as an aluminumcasting, has an elongated ring-shaped body portion 8 from the forwardend of which project two vertically spaced laterally flaredsector-shaped head portions 9.

Journalled within the ring-shaped body portion 8 between the elongatedwalls thereof is a grooved roller 10, and with the carriage mounted onthe track I the roller I0 is adapted to engage the inward surface of thetrack with the grooved surface of the roller conforming to the curvedperiphery of the pipe forming the track.

Extending between the head portions 9 of the carriage are a plurality ofbolts'or pins H which form vertical struts mounted inarcuately spacedrelation. The struts II are maintained in position by means of thecotter pins l2 but may be readily removed and replaced. 1

The clothes line reaches l3 which are supported by my hoist are providedwith the usual end pulleys H to permit the clothes to be reeled out orpulled in. These pulleys are provided introduce the loop l6 between theforked ends of V the carriage and replace the strut.

As clearly illustrated in Figure 5, with the flared head portions 9permitting the spaced relation of the struts I I, the pulleys I4 of thelines will be held in spaced horizontally separated relation, permittingthe free manipulation of each line Withoutinterference from the adjacentlines and ensuring that the clothes or articles hung on adjacent lineswill not become entangled when reeledin towards the-hoist;

Supported on the upper: portion l of the track 4 is a vertical pulleyI7, and secured to the inner end ofthe carriage 3 is an endless hoistingcord I8, one reach of which passes over the pulley ll before returningto'the lower end of the track.

To simplify the connection between the hoist.- ing cord l8 and thecarriage 2 the carriage is provided with an opening [.9 extendingthrough its inward end, and the cord is simply threaded through thisopening and is knotted on either side thereof.

Secured to the lower end portion of the track is a knob or spool 20 andthe hoisting cord 18 is provided with a loop 2| to, engage over thisknob 20' when the carriage is elevated to its uppermostposition.

It will be appreciated that it will be an extremely simple matter toattach the clothes lines to the carriage 3, andv with the tension in thelines pulling the carriage outwardly to engage the curved periphery ofthe track on the grooved roller the carriage may be very readily hoistedby the cord [8, thus elevating simultaneously the plurality of linessecured to the carriage, and then locked in elevated position.

In addition. to the simplicity of operation it will be appreciated thatmy hoist will be inexpensive to manufacture, simple to assemble and tomount, in position, and will be extremely durable with the parts formedof light-weight, nonrusting aluminum or the like.

It will. be appreciated of course that the inclination or cant of thetrack 1 may be varied in accordance with the various ranges of lengthsof clothes lines with which my hoist may be employed so that .propertension will be maintained in the line during hoisting and lowering.

In the preferable arrangement where a plurality of lines. are secured tothe carriage the lines are of approximately equal lengths. However,variations in the lengths of the lines over a wide' range will stillpermit acceptable operation ofthe hoist, and lines of different stretchcharacteristics may also be successfully utilized with my hoist. V

What I claim'as my invention is:

1. A-clothes line hoist comprising a track of circular sectionssupported in a vertical plane and inclined outwardly of the supportingstruc' ture from top to bottom, a carriage in the form of aringcastinghaving elongated side wall portions and joining end wall portionscompletely encircling said track, a horizontal shaft extending betweenthe side wall portions adjacent one end of the casting, a single groovedroller journalled on said shaft and having its grooved surface engaging,the inner, surface, of said track, the end wallportion remote fromsaidshaft having metal at the edges thereof turned forwardly to form twospaced horizontal flanges forming an integral clothes line' supportinghead and affording casting rigidity, and vertical pin means removablysupported between said flanges and adapted to form vertical pivots tosupport a plurality of clothes line pulleys free to swivel transverselyof the track.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, in which said flanges are fan-shaped.and said vertical pin between the elongated side wall portions adjacentone end of the casting and free of contact with said casting, the endwall portion of said casting remote from said roller having metal at theedges turned forwardly to form two spaced horizontal flanges forming anintegral clothes line supporting head and affording casting rigidity,and a plurality of vertical pins removably supported between saidflanges and adapted to. support a plurality of clothes line pulleys freeto.

swivel transversely of the track.

4. A clothes line' hoist comprising a track of circular section havinglaterally turned portions of unequal length adjacent the ends with theends of said portions being threaded, brackets for attachment to asupporting surface threaded toreceive the threaded endsof said pipeportions and supporting'said' pipe in a vertical plane inclinedoutwardly of the supporting surface from the top to the bottom; saidtrack being adjustable in inclination by virtue of the threadedconnection between said laterally turned portions and said brackets, acarriage in the form of an elongated casting surrounding said track andformed with a pair of forwardly projecting vertically spaced laterallyflared head portions, a grooved roller journalled between elongatedwalls of said casting and rolling on the inward surface of said track,vertical struts extending between said spaced headportions andeachadapted to support a clothes line for swivel movement transverselyof said track ,wherebyla plurality of clothes lines may behoisted, andmeans for hoisting said carriage secured to'said carriage inwardly ofsaid track. 7

THOMAS R. FOSTER.

REFERENCES erren The following references are of record in the.

file. of this patent:

UNITED STATES. PATENTS Number Name Date.

1,190,212 Barrere July4, 1916 1,736,599 Hughes Nov. 19, 1929 2,059,093Edwards Oct. 27, 1936 2,156,739 Schmitter May 2, 1939 2,460,088,Hutchins Jan. 25, 1949

